1979 WOMEN'SJ/DLLEYBALL

V

INTRODUCINGCOACHDIANEHALE

Diane, 25, begins her second year as MSU volleyballmentor, after coaching for two years (1976-77) at IowaState, and one (1975) at Tennessee, while completing hermaster's degree in physical education.

A native of Knoxville, Tenn., Diane received her B.S. inphysical education in 1975 at U.T., where she played fouryears of volleyball, competing at the AIAW nationals herfreshman and junior years.

Volleyball keeps-Diane busy during the off-season, asshe serves as chairperson of the AAU Region 3 JuniorOlympic Volleyball program, and is also a member of thecoaching staff at the USVBA Olympic Development Campin Lamoni, la.

PREVIEW 1979With all but one woman from last season's roster return-

ing, 1979 should be a banner year for the Lady Tigers.The most noticeable and major difference from last year,

other than new uniforms, will be an offense centered onall six positions, rather than just one, as was the caselast year with Sandy Monce. After being named to three all-tournament teams during the regular season, Monce wasforced to sit out the state tournament because of an injury.The Lady Tigers wound up third, despite being pre-tourneyfavorites.

This season, coach Diane Hale plans to move Monce tothe middle, utilizing her setting ability, this should, in turn,promote more offense from hitters like Sylvia Watson,Lowette Swinton, and Celeste Homan. Hale also believestaking some of the pressure off Monce will make her abetter player.

While lack of depth may again cause troubles, Halebeefed up her few reserves with the addition of hitterslike junior transfer Margi McNeely, and freshman DebbiHammond.

Regarding her schedule, Hale plans to better expose herteam to the Memphis community with several more homecontests. In addition to dual meets against Ole Miss and U.T.Martin, the MSU Field House will also be the site of both the16th Annual Lady Tiger Invitational, and the TCWSF statechampionship.

AND THE 1979Nancy Esslinger,Graduate Assistant

Nancy begins her first year atMSU after a strong history ofnational and international experience.A1979 graduate of Ole Miss, Nancyplayed two years of volleyball as aLady Rebel, after spending two yearsat North Alabama (1974-75) and a

year (1976) in Prague, Czechoslavakia. While at Ole Miss,where she served as co-captian, her teams attended theAIAW national tournament in both 1977-78.

A native of Florence, Ala., Nancy gained her pre-collegiateexperience at Bradshaw High School, one of the finestfundamentalist schools in the South according to coachDiane Hale.

#9 Sandy Monce,6-0 junior, hitter-setter

Named to three all-tournament teams last season, Sandyreturns as the Lady Tigers' most all-around offensive threat. . . very consistent. . .to be utilized more as asetter this year. . . experience with Florida's beach vol-leyball makes her physically st ronger. . . has more courtawareness than most players. . .also a high jumper on thewomen's track team . . . BORN 11/27/59.

#2 Sylvia Watson,5-7 senior, hitter

Mentally, the smartest hitter on the court. . . knows howto adjust well between hard and off-speed shots. . . good atreturning quick hits from opponent's blocks . . . hits out-side very w e l l . . . was team captain in 78 and named totwo all-tournament teams . . . first Lady Tiger to start in allfour years of competition . . .BORN 6/6/58.

LADY TIGER# 8 Katie Sandage,5-7 senior, hitterBest defensive player on the squad .

plays back middle. . . has excellentfloor capabilities, can roll or dive. . .

team player. . . reads hitters very well and makes adjust-ments to other players on the court. . . doesn't quit, goesafter everything . . . BORN 8/6/56.

I

#10 Celeste Homan,5-8 senior, hitter

Strong outside hitter. . .very aggressive, but smoothwhen moving to the ball. . . needs work on defense andfacing an opponents' block . . . picked up good experiencefrom USVBAplay . . . BORN 10/6/58.

# 4 Lowette Swinton5-7 junior, hitter

Quickest reactions of anyplayer on the team. . . one of thehardest hitters. . . needs to work onmore body control and accuracy ofshots. . . named to last year's state

all- tournament team with Sylvia Watson . . . has played withteammate Sandy Monce since high school. . . BORN2/4/59.

#3 Barbara Whitaker,5-7 senior, hitter

Selected as most improvedplayer of the year last season. . . best serve receiver on the team . . . meticulous aboutherpassing. . .prides herself in putting the ball to the setterwhere she wants i t . . . needs work on vertical jump . . .BORN 1/28/58.

VOLLEYERS

# 7 Becky Harden,5-4 junior, setter

Most experience setter on the team . . .pretty consistentwith fundamentals . . . doesn't make obvious mistakes. . . no off-season LJSVBA experience may be a setback

. . BORN 6/14/59.

# 1 Cindy Eschbach,5-2 senior, setter

Used as relief set ter . . . one of the more respectedplayers on the team . . . enjoyable person to be around. . .no LJSVBA experience may also be disadvantageous for her

. BORN 5/30/58.

NEW RECRUITS# 5 Debbi Hammond,5-7 freshman, hitter

Comes to Memphis State with impressive credentialsfrom high school days: most valuable player, all region, andall-state selection . . .must adapt to the tougher serves anddefenses of the collegiate game . . . needs work on verticaljump . . . BORN 2/22/61.

#6 Margi McNeely,5-8 junior, hitter-setter

Two years at Hillsborough Community College (Tampa,Fla.) should make transition to MSU easier for Margi. In1977, her team finished fifth at the NJCAA national cham-pionships . . . Like Monce, has strong experience withFlorida's beach volleyball (won state championship in 1976)

. BORN 5/20/58.

1978 IN REVIEW1978 Season Results

Meet Record: 26-19 Game Record: 54-38AT OLE MISS TOURNEY

Ole Miss beat MEMPHIS STATE 15-10,15-5MEMPHIS STATE beat Mississippi U/Women 15-10,9-15,15-8MEMPHIS STATE beat U.T. Martin 15-9,15-6Alabama beat MEMPHIS STATE 15-13,15-6Arkansas State beat MEMPHIS STATE 16-14, 8-15,15-5MEMPHIS STATE beat Arkansas State 8-15,15-12,15-10Alabama beat MEMPHIS STATE 15-8,15-7

AT MISSISSIPPI U/WOMEN TOURNEYMEMPHIS STATE beat New Orleans 15-7, 3-15,17-15Mississippi U/Women beat MEMPHIS STATE 16-14,15-5Florida State beat MEMPHIS STATE 15-11,15-3Arkansas State beat MEMPHIS STATE 12-15,15-5,17-15MEMPHIS STATE beat Columbus College 15-10,15-1

AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE TRI-MEETMEMPHIS STATE beat Middle Tennessee State 15-8.15-9MEMPHIS STATE beat U.T. Chattanooga 10-15,15-8,15-7

AT U.T. MARTIN TOURNEYMEMPHIS STATE beat Middle Tennessee State 15-10,15-3MEMPHIS STATE beat Austin Peay 15-4,15-3MEMPHIS STATE beat Southwest Baptist 15-10,15-6Arkansas State beat MEMPHIS STATE 15-11,17-15

AT HOUSTON TOURNEYTexas A&M beat MEMPHIS STATE 15-6,15-8Texas Tech beat MEMPHIS STATE 15-11,15-5Oklahoma beat MEMPHIS STATE 15-11.15-11Texas beat MEMPHIS STATE 15-1,15-9

LADY TIGER INVITATIONALNew Orleans beat MEMPHIS STATE 19-17 (15-2, 4-15)MEMPHIS STATE beat Nichols State 30-15 (15-8,15-7)MEMPHIS STATE beat Central Arkansas 30-15 (15-10,15-5)Tennessee beat MEMPHIS STATE 30-26 (15-13,15-13)MEMPHIS STATE beat U.T Martin 2-15.15-7,15-5Ole Miss beat MEMPHIS STATE 15-13,12-15,15-5

MEMPHIS STATE TRI-MEETMEMPHIS STATE beat Middle Tennessee State 16-14,15-12MEMPHIS STATE beat Southeast Missouri 15-4,15-8

AT CHATTANOOGA QUADMEMPHIS STATE beat U.T. Chattanooga 15-10,15-3MEMPHIS STATE beat East Tennessee State 15-12, 8-15,15-7MEMPHIS STATE beat Covenant College 15-2,15-7

AT LADY VOLUNTEER TOURNEYFlorida State beat MEMPHIS STATE 30-15 (15-3,15-12)Northern Kentucky beat MEMPHIS STATE 30-23 (15-10,15-13)MEMPHIS STATE beat Morehead State 30-17 (15-10,15-7)MEMPHIS STATE beat Tennessee 15-13,15-9

AT U.T. MARTIN TRI-MEETMEMPHIS STATE beat U.T. Martin 15-10,15-13MEMPHIS STATE beat Austin Peay 15-3,15-12

AT SOUTHEAST MISSOURI TRI-MEETMEMPHIS STATE beat Southeast Missouri 15-7,15-1MEMPHIS STATE beat Jefferson CC 15-12, 7-15,15-5

AT TCWSF STATE TOURNAMENT*MEMPHIS STATE beat Tennessee Tech 15-4,15-5East Tennessee State beat MEMPHIS STATE 15-11,15-11MEMPHIS STATE beat Middle Tennessee State 15-7,15-9Tennessee beat MEMPHIS STATE 15-7,15-7

•Memphis State finished 3rd behind ETSU (1st) andTennessee (2nd).

1979 SCHEDULEDATE OPPONENTSept. 14 at Arkansas State, w/Henderson State

15 VARSITY-ALUMNI MATCH (7:00 p.m.)19 OLE MISS (7:00 p.m.)22 at Ole Miss Invitational27 ARKANSAS STATE (7:00 p.m.)29 at Mississippi U/Women Invitational

Oct. 5-6 16th ANNUAL LADY TIGERINVITATIONAL (tba)

8 at Jefferson CC (St. Louis)12-13 at Florida State Invitational

15 at Ole Miss20 at Missouri Invitational23 at Tennessee-Martin27 at Southern Illinois Invitational29 TENNESSEE-MARTIN (7:00 p.m.)

Nov. 1 at North Alabama, w/Troy State5 JEFFERSON COMMUNITY COLLEGE

(7:00 p.m.)9-10 TCWSF STATE TOURNAMENT (tba)

16-17 at AIAW Region 2 Tournament

FACTS ON MSUMemphis State UniversityFieldhouse 377Memphis, Tenn. 38152(901)454-2315

PRESIDENT: Dr. Billy M. JonesWOMEN'S ATHLETIC DIRECTOR: Elma RoaneWOMEN'S SPORTS INFORMATION

DIRECTOR: Michael M. Finn (454-2528)WOMEN'S TRAINER: Linda ArnoldENROLLMENT: 22,000NICKNAME: Lady TigersCOLORS: Blue and GreyARENA: MSU Field House (Cap: 3000)

80-186

1979 VOLLEYBALL

ROSTERNO

. NAM

E1

***Eschbach, Cindy5

Hamm

ond, Debbi7

**Harden, Becky10

*Homan, Celeste

6 M

cNeely, Margi

9 **M

once, Sandy8

***Sandage, Katie4

**Swinton, Lowette2

***Watson, Sylvia

3 **W

hitaker, Barbara

*Denotes Year(s) Experience as Lady Tiger

HEAD COACH: Diane Hale (Tennessee, 1975)

GRADUATE ASSISTANT: Nancy Esslinger (Ole Miss, 1979)

POSITIO

NSetterHitterSetterHitterHitter-SetterHitter-SetterHitterHitterHitterHitter

AGE

21182020211923202121

HT.5-25-75-45-85-86-05-75-75-75-7

YEARSr.Fr.Jr.Sr.Jr.Jr.Sr.Jr.Sr.Sr.

MAJO

RPhysical EducationUndecidedCrim

inologyEngineeringPhysical EducationPhysical EducationHealthCom

puter SciencePre-M

edicinePhysical Education

HOM

ETOW

N (H

IGH

SCHOO

L)M

emphis (Bishop Byrne)

Florence, Ala. (Bradshaw)M

emphis

(Raleigh-Egypt)Lisle, III. (Lisle)Tam

pa, Fla. (Robinson)Tam

pa, Fla. (Jefferson)M

emphis (Frayser)

Tampa, Fla. (Jefferson)

Mem

phis (Imm

aculate Conception)M

emphis (W

ooddale)